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Zevran.
You and Fate are good friends, correct?
You and Fate are good friends, correct?
Alistair is coming to Skyhold for that conversation we discussed. I will be in the kitchen.
[To the point.]
[To the point.]
[ Here is a message left for discovery whenever Zevran has a break from burping secret infants. ]
Zev? [ There's a pause to see if there will be an immediate answer, then: ] Something went screwy with some magic, tale as old as time, and I can't lie. Listen: I had my first kiss when I was ssssnineteen. And I— [ a moment of silent struggling to say anything else ] —dropped my drink on her lap.
So I wanted to tell you you're a good man and I love you.
And if you make fun of me I'll nnn. [ He can't make any of the hyperbolic threats he'd like to make. ] I'll tie a knot in your hair that's slightly hard to get out.
Zev? [ There's a pause to see if there will be an immediate answer, then: ] Something went screwy with some magic, tale as old as time, and I can't lie. Listen: I had my first kiss when I was ssssnineteen. And I— [ a moment of silent struggling to say anything else ] —dropped my drink on her lap.
So I wanted to tell you you're a good man and I love you.
And if you make fun of me I'll nnn. [ He can't make any of the hyperbolic threats he'd like to make. ] I'll tie a knot in your hair that's slightly hard to get out.
Behold Leliana, leaving the Rookery and in search of a friend. There is more than one reason, at least one involves gratitude and two more involve concern, and all of them require Leliana knocking at the door of Zevran's chambers.
[Back for but two weeks, Vivienne's already keenly aware that one of her favorites has been remarkably, well... absent. Which is concerning as she's not aware of his having frequented the healing tents.
Ah well, she has a solution for that in the form of a small bribe for a visit: one of the few bottles of brandy she brought back to Skyhold with her. That she's coming to his quarters to seek him out is telling. She's actually fond of the assassin.
A quick, short rap on his door in case he's (ahem) occupé.]
Ah well, she has a solution for that in the form of a small bribe for a visit: one of the few bottles of brandy she brought back to Skyhold with her. That she's coming to his quarters to seek him out is telling. She's actually fond of the assassin.
A quick, short rap on his door in case he's (ahem) occupé.]
[The loud banging fist on Zevran's door is probably loud enough to wake yet another ancient Tevinter magister from their darkspawn-y rest as Alejandro practically punches the wood.]
Zevran, aprire lo sportello! I will fuckin' remove the hinges if I have to.
Zevran, aprire lo sportello! I will fuckin' remove the hinges if I have to.
[...but an envoy does come in his place, tapping lightly on the door as if unnerved to be here. ]
Zevran!
[Does Araceli sound breathless? She probably sounds breathless. But still aiming for casual. You know the way when you run up to someone on the street and you're trying to blend in with them because there's someone after you, so you want them to play along.
Because she gets that Zevran and Serious Deep Feelings are complicated even if they aren't his own but he did help her with the pearl. So while the rest of Skyhold can find out when they spy the new necklace she wears proudly, she can't have him found out, not when he went pearl shopping with her in Antiva, not when he knows her.]
I...I have news. Big news. Are you, learned and worldly man that you are, at all familiar with Qunari traditions? Regarding, well not romance but commitment, or togetherness?
[Korrin is maybe going to be your niece-in-law basically. She's building up to that uncle.]
[Does Araceli sound breathless? She probably sounds breathless. But still aiming for casual. You know the way when you run up to someone on the street and you're trying to blend in with them because there's someone after you, so you want them to play along.
Because she gets that Zevran and Serious Deep Feelings are complicated even if they aren't his own but he did help her with the pearl. So while the rest of Skyhold can find out when they spy the new necklace she wears proudly, she can't have him found out, not when he went pearl shopping with her in Antiva, not when he knows her.]
I...I have news. Big news. Are you, learned and worldly man that you are, at all familiar with Qunari traditions? Regarding, well not romance but commitment, or togetherness?
[Korrin is maybe going to be your niece-in-law basically. She's building up to that uncle.]
Cade has been in an especially foul mood since the incident with Alistair. He had gone back to work, ruminating on all the things he could have said, regretting that Zevran showed up in time to intervene, at the same time knowing how much trouble he could've gotten into if left to his own temper.
It doesn't even matter to him that Zevran dismissed him and stayed behind to chew out Alistair; Alistair still won. He wins no matter what. Always.
Cade gives his customary knock on the tower door, then lets himself in, making his way over to sullenly slump into his usual chair. He should be packing for the Western Approach, and instead he's here, and it's all Alistair's fault, just like it always was.
It doesn't even matter to him that Zevran dismissed him and stayed behind to chew out Alistair; Alistair still won. He wins no matter what. Always.
Cade gives his customary knock on the tower door, then lets himself in, making his way over to sullenly slump into his usual chair. He should be packing for the Western Approach, and instead he's here, and it's all Alistair's fault, just like it always was.
Zev?
[ It's a distant sound, like one spoken down the length of a long, empty hall, with wavering distortions; there are syllables where it sounds like another voice entirely, others where it's drowned out by the sound of stone cracking or water running. ]
We don't know if anything is getting through. I just wanted—in case it is, and we don't come back—
[ He's been trying to say good-bye for months; not outright, nothing to cause a fight, but saying other things. Trying to make sure there wasn't anything left that needed to be said, so if it came to that, to this, it would feel like the right time. Not too soon, not too unfinished.
So now he doesn't know what else to say. ]
It's nothing you could have stopped, [ he decides on, and maybe there would have been more, but instead there's a crash and a roar, and, ] Maker, [ and silence. ]
[ It's a distant sound, like one spoken down the length of a long, empty hall, with wavering distortions; there are syllables where it sounds like another voice entirely, others where it's drowned out by the sound of stone cracking or water running. ]
We don't know if anything is getting through. I just wanted—in case it is, and we don't come back—
[ He's been trying to say good-bye for months; not outright, nothing to cause a fight, but saying other things. Trying to make sure there wasn't anything left that needed to be said, so if it came to that, to this, it would feel like the right time. Not too soon, not too unfinished.
So now he doesn't know what else to say. ]
It's nothing you could have stopped, [ he decides on, and maybe there would have been more, but instead there's a crash and a roar, and, ] Maker, [ and silence. ]
I'd like to hire you for something, when you've time.
[He might sound a little amused. He might be being vague on purpose, just because it's a little amusing.]
The good news is that you'd not even have to find someone to help watch the dog, because the task is here.
[And by dog he means the dog and the baby, but he's being careful.]
[He might sound a little amused. He might be being vague on purpose, just because it's a little amusing.]
The good news is that you'd not even have to find someone to help watch the dog, because the task is here.
[And by dog he means the dog and the baby, but he's being careful.]
[ There's time to go yet before he's at his best; he's still too pale, except where he's newly sunburned, and he hasn't slept off the circles beneath his eyes or regained any lost weight. He has a lot of things left to be unhappy about besides his potential personal doom. But there's already more briskness to his movements than there has been lately. And his eyes are brighter, even while they're still sleepy. Less likely to unfocus.
Not that Zevran can see that yet, with Alistair on the other side of the door. He never gave back his key, but it isn't his room anymore--Mia could be in there, she could be indecent--so he knocks. Once with his fist, then with his forehead, a single thud so he can talk directly into the crack. ]
Zeeev.
Not that Zevran can see that yet, with Alistair on the other side of the door. He never gave back his key, but it isn't his room anymore--Mia could be in there, she could be indecent--so he knocks. Once with his fist, then with his forehead, a single thud so he can talk directly into the crack. ]
Zeeev.
[The box arrives outside Zevran's quarters by way of an Inquisition runner, who will say only that it came from the Arcane Advisor and that they expected to be sent the Nightingale's direction and not his.
Attached is a note, in her hand:]
I was alone once, frightened and ill-equipped. I remember these serving me well when Kieran was small.
[Inside the box are supplies of a more Chasind style, as fits Morrigan and her boy: a blanket, a few items of clothing for when he's a little larger, vials of oil to be added to a bath to aid sleep, tonics to soothe upset stomachs and gums when the time comes, and to match a crow that Zevran already owns, nestles a smaller one once again made my Kieran's hand.]
Attached is a note, in her hand:]
I was alone once, frightened and ill-equipped. I remember these serving me well when Kieran was small.
[Inside the box are supplies of a more Chasind style, as fits Morrigan and her boy: a blanket, a few items of clothing for when he's a little larger, vials of oil to be added to a bath to aid sleep, tonics to soothe upset stomachs and gums when the time comes, and to match a crow that Zevran already owns, nestles a smaller one once again made my Kieran's hand.]
I do apologize that it took me this long to get back to you, if you wanted to talk more about the circumstances...
[A parcel makes it way to Zevran's quarters, or just outside them if need be. Inside is a soft and very warm bear slanket big enough to accommodate a growing infant. There's also a note: 'Asher and I thought Lucci could make use of this. Enjoy.' --Korrin So as not to leave the parent out completely, next to the parcel is a bottle of decent quality Rivaini wine.]
[Enclosed with a note is a small, fluffy towel with ducks and a bottle of Rivani rum. The note reads:]
Now you can't say that everything I get him has cows. Though the next probably will. Can I teach him the noise cows make yet?
~A
Now you can't say that everything I get him has cows. Though the next probably will. Can I teach him the noise cows make yet?
~A
Zev, [ and a pause, for effect—one can never be sure if messages sent through these will be answered immediately or left for later discovery, so he doesn't plan to wait, but he wants to make sure this carries all of the weight and despair it deserves: ] I'm half Orlesian.
[ He's obviously known this for quite some time now. But it's sunk in, finally. ]
What if someone finds out?
[ He's obviously known this for quite some time now. But it's sunk in, finally. ]
What if someone finds out?
The one downside of the crystals are that I never know how to start a conversation on them. Hello, how are you, obviously this isn't a casual sending like running into you would be, obviously I want something, but how is Lucci?
[When it comes to someone like Zevran, as much as Araceli would like to be the element of surprise, to sweep in with gifts? 1) She isn't stupid and 2) she respects him and what he's been through too much for that, so she tracks him down instead, Lux nowhere to be seen.
A baby might make an appearance, Lux said no thanks and remained curled up on Korrin's side of the bed.]
Zevran? [A soft call. No crying babies, no crying babies if the sea loves her there will be no crying babies.] Zevran I can't get the door.
A baby might make an appearance, Lux said no thanks and remained curled up on Korrin's side of the bed.]
Zevran? [A soft call. No crying babies, no crying babies if the sea loves her there will be no crying babies.] Zevran I can't get the door.
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